Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Hurricane Yoh! ❯ Side Story 1b: Demonslayer Yoh! ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Side Story: Demon-slayer Yoh! (Part 2)

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman king, any characters, or even the background story, but I own the story I write here, of course.

WARNING: This chapter is part two of a two-part side-story! Yaaay!

SECONDARY WARNING: Weeeel, there's some… (ahem) hell references, since Anna is supposed to be able to “Call spirits from heaven, or banish them to hell” sooooo… If it, I don't know… offends you or creaps you out or something (I totally understand, really), please don't read. It's not really crucial anywhays (hence, it's a side-story).

Many terms were used to refer to the tunnel Anna opened between Hell and Earth, just so you know (ex. gate, tear)

Time to really earn that “Action/Adventure” categorization, Or… try, anywhays. Whooooo!

Yoh was tired.

In fact, he contemplated the possibility that Anna was plotting to kill him with sheer exhaustion, so that she could summon him back from heaven and boss him around even more using her 108 beads. But then he remembered, shamans couldn't be brought back from the other side. Something about their integration into the afterlife being too perfect or something. Ojiisan's lectures were too hard to not fall asleep in.

“Ow!” Being distracted from his thoughts, Yoh had run into one of the many trees of the forest he was currently in. Am I even still in Funbari? If Yoh didn't stop musing about the unfairness of his situation (which was a great unfairness indeed) he would likely run into the cliff face to his right.

He hadn't even been running for an hour and he was seriously considering switching to slower, less lung-busting, muscle-training pace instead of running like a madman high on pixie-sticks(those little sugar packet snacks that are seriously rare and out of style now). He remembered how this little exercise was dumped on him.

“You're going for a morning jog, Yoh” Anna had said, and proceeded to detail a route that took her half an hour to explain. Yoh now had several maps, because the route simply did not fit on just one. He had actually tried jogging for a while, but in order to get back in time (she had threatened his precious CD collection, so he was definitely going to be back in time) he had to jog so fast that it was more of a mad dash than anything else.

His love for Bob's music were all that gave him strength to keep going (totally plutonic love, he was engaged. And marriage to inanimate audio tracks wasn't exactly an option.)

But man, he was tired.

Did she have to increase the weight right before throwing him into this marathon?

Well, it's like they say. Whatever else happens to me today, it can't possibly get any worse than this.

Poor Yoh, if only Anna had let him go to the movies more often, he would have known that “at least it can't get worse” was one of the dumbest and most dangerous things to say, ever.

Yoh felt it approach, but really, he was just too tired to dodge at the moment, and let the red-blur dive-bomb (a dive from the sky in a straight line, like an arrow.) him into the ground.

“Hmm… the mortal didn't go `splat', how very odd…”

“Itai!” Yoh dragged himself up to face the… wait, isn't that…? Haven't seen one of those in a while.

“Asakura Yoh?” asked the demon, his voice somehow trying to match the brutality of his appearance.

“Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you” Yoh was grinning on the outside, and silently hoping that the demon was talkative. He was really tired at the moment.

Hmm, Anna says that I should list my options in these situations so…Option 1: Run, be slowed down by my weights, and die. Yoh didn't like that one. Option 2: Negotiate, fail, end up running, and then die. Now that wasn't much of an improvement. Option 3: Tell him that I'm not actually Yoh and point him in some other direction, he kills me just for fun, heads off in that direction, and kills some other people just for fun as well. Right, why did the options only seem to get worse? Option 4: Sell my soul to the King of Hell?... That's not a fun idea at all. The whole “list your options” thing only seemed good for making people hopelessly depressed, apparently. For the life of him, Yoh couldn't really figure out how that was supposed to help. Option 5: Fight, with the weights on, while tired, without Amidamaru, while hoping that I can find a weapon somewhere and quite possibly end up dieing… Yoh mentally shrugged. If it was the only way, then there wasn't a point in being angst-y (angst-y: sort of intentionally sad and pessimistic… I think?) about it. Well, looks like that's what he was doing…

Yoh was quite grateful that the demon was indeed talkative, especially with regards to the “master plan” that he was allegedly now a key part of, or whatever. Yoh was about as rested as he figured he'd ever get with the amount of weight pressed on him, and it was time for action.

His opponent was the size of Ryo, with claws, teeth, the ability of flight, and both superior strength and speed. I really wish I could take these weight-seals off. Yoh needed a plan, a daring tactic that could turn the battle in his favor. He looked around. Ah, with that, I can win.

The demon was brought out of his speech mid-rant “Ow! Did you… just throw a…rock at me, mortal?” The demon seemed more stunned at the prospect than anything else.

Yoh shrugged easily “well, we're fighting, right?”

“There is no fight, foolish mortal, a demon like myself is more than enough to simply slaughter y- Ow!”

Hey, I'm winning. Strength and speed isn't everything. After all, Intelligence counts too.

“Fool, I will enjoy rending your body limb from limb. And after I show that girl your severed head and her pathetic grief will run her power wild! The demons of hell will have full access to the world and finally r- Ow!”

“Hmmm, out of ammo, huh?” Yoh mused aloud. Only pebbles were left in the area. With another mental shrug, Yoh bend down to look for any particularly projectile-worthy pebbles for demon-slaying.

That did it.

With a horrifying roar of indignation, the demon dashed forwards at breakneck speeds. The foolish human's rocks had done nothing but ensure a more painful and messy death. The demon was confident that there would be no escape, that no mere human defense could possibly stop him. He considered simply plowing head-first through the mortal with his mighty charge, and his anger-filled mind found that it liked that idea very much.

Now! And with that, Yoh quickly rolled out of the way of the now demon-turned-bullet, which promptly crashed headfirst into the Cliffside behind him.

Hmmm… that'll probably be really funny after I check on Anna. Yoh actually felt a little sorry for the hell-demon, but then he remembered that it was pure, concentrated evil and conceitedness that had tried to squash him.

Yoh turned to dash back to the Inn, but was soon stopped cold by a low, menacing growl filled with pain and rage. Eh? What's his head made out of? This isn't good, Anna hasn't shown up, so she must still be trying to close the tunnel. I don't have time. Out loud, he said “Oh well” and “It'll work out somehow” (Haha, no one can say my Yoh is OOC!)

The demon rushed forwards, still growling in fury in an attempt to impale the impudent human on a clawed arm.

Yoh's eyes narrowed slightly as he sidestepped the attack. Fast. He watched as the clawed hand tore a hole through the tree behind where Yoh was. I'm lucky the trees stop him from using flight to his advantage. Indeed, if the demon were to try another dive-bomb right now, Yoh wouldn't have trouble dodging and have full access to a heavily disorientated demon.

The demon had given up on trying to spear the young mortal, opting instead to simply walk forwards (menacingly, of course) and stand towering over the frail flesh-bag (Yoh) intimidatingly.

Is he trying to stun me with fear? That level of intimidation, while demonic and frightening in it's own right wasn't enough to phase the fiancée of “Cook the dinner now and make it good, Yoh” Kyoyama Anna. Apparently, the demon had just wanted to lull Yoh into a sense of confusion or security, or something because a clawed fist shot out with no apparent warning whatsoever. Yoh sidestepped right easily and brought his left fist into the stomach of his opponent.

The demon stood there shocked, how could a mortal react at those speeds? Even more shocking was that, despite this incredible talent, the fist that hit the demon's stomach had enough force to qualify as a poke in the ribs with a marshmallow. He was about to impale the ridiculous child on his claw, but was interrupted by Yoh slamming the follow-up fist right into the demon's face.

In a flash, the demon was up on his feet again and Yoh was forced on the defensive.

Yoh dodged a slash at his right side, only to be forced to jump backwards to avoid another slash at his left, and proceeded to spin away when the demon brought his head crashing downwards in what Yoh assumed was some kind of downwards-headbut..

This is it! Yoh came out of his spin and immediately brought his right leg into an overhead axe-kick to the back of the demons head.

The crash resounded throughout the area, as Yoh's foot met directly with the back of the demons neck, and carried the aborted headbut motion into a massive collision with the ground.

Yoh observed the spider web cracks that surrounded the point of impact as he clutched his leg, which was still hurting from the sheer amount of strain he had put upon it. The results of Anna's “trainng specials”. Because of the attached weights, an axe kick can become the same as hurling a giant barbell onto someone's head.

Yoh started limping towards home, trying to work his right leg back into proper shape so he could run.

He was again stopped by a low growl. No way.

Before he could even turn around, he was hit in the back and hurled into a tree. He looked to his enemy, who now sported one seriously messed up face that somehow managed to get a growl out of it's twisted remains of a mouth. I think it actually became less ugly after I crashed it's head into the ground. Hell-Demons… are a lot tougher than I remember. I Need to hurry, but…

And then he saw it.

The perfect solution.

Yoh picked up the stick just before he had to quickly dive away from another of the demon's charges.

Yoh would have been worried when the demon's charge tore the great tree it crashed into down, but this battle was already over. He had one shot: but he only needed one, anywhays. Focus. Re-inforce. See it as a wepon. Make it a wepon!

“Celestial Slash!”(Shinkuu Bataguri!)

----------------------------------------------------------------- --Scene Change! (Funbari Inn)-------------------------------------------------------------------

Anna stood, stock still.

Because, in a sense, she wasn't really there.

She was busy closing a tunnel to hell, and she'd been doing this for quite a while. I fact, because she hadn't had breakfast, she was in danger of simply dehydrating if this dragged on for much longer. But the demons were trying valiantly to claw the passage open wider, wide enough to at least let through another lesser demon, so she had to keep going.

Yoh was probably having enough trouble fighting the one that slipped through already.

Of course, she was confident that Yoh would win, eventually. Even though her consciousness was mostly in the realm between this world and hell, she kept an eye out for his return. She never admitted it out loud, but having Yoh around always calmed her down. She could easily bring her emotions, and therefore the tunnel, back under control once that slacker decided to show up. That Baka-Yoh… He'd better be careful.

…How could this even have happened? How could I, Kyoyama Anna be fooled by such ridiculous taunts. “Yoh will change”? “Yoh will break the engagement”? That's so stupid. Yoh… Isn't even ambitious enough to seek someone better unless he's forced to. And the day he actually gives up on someone is the day that Ryu shaves his head bald.

Anna was finally getting somewhere with the tunnel, when she was met face-to face with her heaviest regret all over again.

Yoh staggered over to Anna and stood, covered in his own blood and clutching the remains of a stick.

“Yo!”

No.

“hehe, do you get a feeling of deja vu?”

You idiot, that's not a joke! You…

“I was surprised, I didn't think it could get me before I attacked… Ne, Anna what's wrong? I'm here… and… er, sort of alright. You usually snap out of it by now…”

No one could look at you and call you alright!

“Wow, this is just like last time, right? I should call Faust...”

Last time never should have happened! Anna had to struggle not to let the memories re-surface… Of when she first met Yoh. Yoh had always been stupid. Going up against a Greater-Oni, even with a 1000 year old spirit, Matamune, was a sure a signal of stupidity. It was her fault then, and it was her fault now. And again, he stood in front of her covered in blood, and clutching his weapon. All this time and nothing changed at all! Damn it!

I decided to make my story marginally more sane(a bold and daring proposal), and spread some of the Explination Corner throughout the story…

Yoh&Anna's Past! For those that don't know the manga, Yoh met Anna when they were 8. At that time, she had an ability that translates to “empathy” which lets her hear the thoughts of people and stuff without even seeing them. Somehow, she seemed to pick up mostly a lot of negative thoughts. She was also filled with hate towards the world because her family didn't want her. All her accumulated hate and negativity periodically manifested into Oni. Long story short, Yoh ended up fighting a powered up, large Oni with a 1000 year old spirit that served the Asakura family, Matamune. Matamune used up all his power on the Oni, and disappeared. In the end, Yoh was standing in front of Anna covered in blood and clutching a sword in one hand.

“…” Yoh ran out of things to say. It wasn't like he ever got practice comforting Anna, normally. This was strange and difficult. I give up, I'll do the normal “dance around the subject and pretend like nothing's going on” thing.

“Sorry. I only ran part way… I'll do the rest after lunch. You want salad again?”

Yoh headed inside, each step leaving faint tracks made of blood.

He was stopped again by the scream of his fiancée. Okay, either Anna's lost control and another demon's escaping or she's closed the tunnel and started screaming without a reason… Yeah, it's probably another demon. For Anna to scream on her own, she'd need to do it for some kind of emotion, and Anna avoided showing emotion like the plague.

As if on cue, a three story version of the demon he'd fought before emerged.

Yoh looked at the towering mass of evil power.

He looked at the two halves of his broken stick

He looked back at the demon

He looked back at his weight-seals, still in place, on his body, which was still bleeding.

The demon slowly raised a leg, as if to step on Yoh in the most mocking fashion.

Yoh wasn't honestly sure he could evade such a thing, so he looked at the remains of his stick again, hoping they could help him, somehow.

“Yoh-dono!”

“Oh, Amidamaru!” Awsome! But I need to avoid being squashed… Hmm, I have a funny idea. Yoh grabbed three leaves.

“Ko-Oni Strike!” (“Imp Strike”)

Three tiny Shikigami, like his grandfather's, were sent flying as fast as their tiny little green bodies could manage. Yoh was slightly surprised the technique actually proved useful for a change.

“MY EYES! YOU SHALL PAY IN BLOOD!”

Yoh used the distraction to get out of stomping range.

“Ah, I made him angry”

Amidamaru stared at his master in disbelief. How can Yoh-dono talk so easily even now? …Well, Yoh-dono is Yoh-dono. The spirit faught the urge to shake his head ruefully, so I should have known. Amidamaru smiled.

Yoh was thinking, too. I need my mediums, but I don't have time to get them. That demon… won't just sit still and wait for me. “Yosh(okay), then let's try this now!”

“Amidamaru! Into the stick!”

“Wh-what?.! Ah… hai”

“Into the other stick!”

And lo-and-behold. The double medium, Spirit of Sword arrives.(I'm not sure if they name it in the anime, but it's what Yoh's double medium is called in the Japanese version and manga.)

The demon was aghast, the tiny, wounded mortal had taken some sticks and a dead tiny human mortal, and created a sword almost as big as himself. He screamed in outrage and slashed at the weapon. With the weapon broken, time could be taken to kill this human slowly.

Bad move! Yoh blocked the attack, and threw his weight into the counter. A clean, vertical slice to sever what appeared to be the demon's right arm.

“RRHRAH! MORTAL! PREPARE TO DIE!”

You don't have time to scream for my death! Yoh twisted the sword, and aimed to slice off the demon's legs next.

“FOOL!” The demon jumped back (and into the dirt road outside Yoh's house) to evade. Now re-analyzing the treat of this puny mortal.

The Spirit of Sword isn't meant for these mediums. I can't adjust the size and forcing it to keep this form is draining me of too much furyoku. At this rate, five minuets and I can't tell what will happen if I try Halo Blade when it's this unstable. Finally, weighted down like this, even holding the sword is tiring. Have to finish quickly! Despite his thoughts, Yoh didn't move. He held Spirit of Sword ready, for he would have to strike when his opponent did. He wasn't in any condition to chase down something so much faster than him. The demon charged.

Too fast!

Yoh had dodged the swipe, but even the wind pressure alone was enough to send him flying into the fence. He looked up to see the fast approaching claw of his enemy.

Yoh had barely been fast enough to block. He quickly dropped the blade out of the block and preformed a rising slash to the demon's mid-section.

The demon jumped back, but received a clanking blow across it's chest, regardless. It growled. Much as it loathed admitting, there was no way to block the mortal's blade, any defense would be simply cut through.

The demon advanced again, it's left arm slashing wildly, leaving no chance to grasp a counterattack.

Yoh turned each attack away, but it was all he could do, his back was to the fence, and each strike sill contained enough wind pressure to only push him against it harder. This won't work! The force of the blows were slowly starting to wear him down, it became harder and harder to get the defense up in time.

I need some room. Amidamaru! I'm letting the Oversoul(spirit control) break!

Hai! The response from Amidamaru coming over there mental link, Yoh could tell that he had the Samurai's full support weather he understood the plan or not.

“TOO SLOW, HUMAN!”

Yoh deflected the swipe just enough to send him flying, rather than impale him. He had successfully let his enemy knock him to a safer distance, into the fence nearer to the street and Anna. His body, exhausted, remained slumped against the fence.

Anna was watching, but she still couldn't move. Those bastard demons were struggling harder than ever and even Anna… especially Anna couldn't feel calm when Yoh was so close to death. She could feel it, the feeling of his presence dimming. Amidamaru appeared.

“Yoh-dono!”

In response, Yoh could only cough up blood. His voice sounded strained, was even that a struggle for him? “A-Amidamaru, it's… over, I'm sorry”

Amidamaru was stunned, his master had never simply given up on a fight when so much was at stake “don't say that, Yoh-dono! We can still-”

“Win, I know. We will win, but… I…” Yoh looked up at where he guessed Amidamaru would be.

And Amidamaru understood. “Y… Yoh-dono… I understand.”

“Ah, thanks, Amidamaru.” There was a pause, as Yoh pushed himself up from his seated position. The next words spoken were in a tone that Amidamaru had hoped never to have heard from his master “Afterwards, comfort Anna for me, the only way is… you'll have to tell her that I'm just unconscious. Tell her t (cough) that I'll talk to her when I wake up. Just re-assure her that I'm okay, until the gate to hell closes.” The tone of a comrade resigned for death, Amidamaru had heard it far too many times in his life. Far, far too many.

NO! Anna's mind cried out in torment. You can't! You can't just leave me! NO, NO, NO, NO! Yoh, Yoh! Not my Yoh! Not…my Yoh… Anne struggled harder than she knew was possible, if she could only close the damn gate! But as much as she strived, the pain in her chest and the ice in her veins were sending her own mercurial (in this context, meaning quick to react) power to counter her every ounce of effort. She was right in front of him! That… That idiot! Did he think she was too far to hear?.! Or…

He couldn't even tell that blood had seeped into his eyes. Yoh couldn't see. She realized it as he struggled to walk past her.

Yoh spoke up. He made no attempt to make his voice sound stronger, Yoh felt no need. “You just thought it was funny to watch me die, right?” he received an arrogant sounding snort from the demon. That was all he needed, his vision had been knocked out of his eyes, but his ears worked just fine. Both him and Amidamaru could use their senses and he could pinpoint the demon.Hopefully, lack of sight wouldn't matter. “Sorry, but I can't just leave you here.”

“Amidamaru! Into the stick!” Silently, Yoh thought he sounded sort of funny, considering the gravity of the situation.

“Into the other stick!” Even if I die, at least everything will work out. Eaveryone will be safe with this.

“Spirit of Sword!”

“IMPOSSIBLE! YOU WERE ON THE BRINK OF DEATH!”

“I still am!” but something was wrong, the blood loss was finally catching up. Kamikaze tactic or not, the delicate, yet powerful bouncing of energy between mediums which had become almost second nature to Yoh… was causing him trouble. A crack, it was quiet, but the sound still rung in his ears. It's breaking! The energy flow… he could feel it and he knew…. Spirit of Sword was going to do more than break. This flow… the circuit will explode in on itself. The crack extended. The explosion would wound the demon, sure, but that wasn't enough! And Anna would be…

No, I'm still here, so everything can still work out. Where all the shamans before him recorded only explosive death when their double medium's energy went awry, Yoh could feel the problem, he completely understood exactly what was happening, and he knew that there was a chance, a small chance, that he could guide the energy to do what he needed of it. No room for hesitation.

To throw away my life!

Crack.

To throw away my dreams!

Crack!

If it's the only way left, then I'll throw it all away to keep Anna and everyone safe! There is no pause to question that path!

CRACK!

“Focus! Spirit of Sword!”

Yoh swung the terrible, increasingly volatile weapon with all his might. The final crack being guided by Yoh's own intent, he fuelled what little remained of his furyoku into channeling the massive explosion of his double medium into one tearing mass of white energy.

Whatever the demon had been planning to do became a moot-point as the screaming mass of energy tore it's considerable mass into nothing but fragments of dust in the wind.

The blinding radiance of the attack dieing down, Anna couldn't see Yoh anywhere. Until se looked down, towards the figure lying face-first in the dirt, blood beginning to pool around him. The charred remains of his two small sticks still resting in his hands.

He was probably dead, she knew. He had said he probably would be, himself, even if he hadn't known she could hear him. Looking at his body, and searching, tentatively for his presence, Anna understood that it was over. Yoh's dead. This was the point where she was supposed to lose all semblance of control and inadvertently rip a portal open between Hell and Earth. But she didn't feel sad, or angry, or loss.

She didn't feel Anything. All emotion within her had died out completely. She had no views on anything, no concerns. Almost absent-mindedly, she clamped the tunnel to hell shut, it was so easy now. And it was what Yoh would have wanted. She collapsed, almost lifelessly to the ground. What purpose was there for anything?

She could not avenge Yoh. Yoh had obliterated the demon, himself. There was nothing Yoh would want her to do; all of his friends were safe now.

Shamans could not be called from Heaven, but… perhaps Yoh would become an earth-bound spirit.

She crawled over to him. Oh she could have walked, but there was no point in anything, so crawling was just as well. No, he's not here. So… in Heaven? My Yoh… Suddenly her eyes filled with life again. She sat up straight. Why should Heaven have him? She could take him back. She didn't care if he was a shaman. If she tore a gate open large enough, she might be able to call him, anyway. Or, send her consciousness through the tear and find him herself. Excellent. A distant part of her mind weakly spoke up, of course. Saying something about how angels from heaven would escape and eradicate the planet to prevent further sins from being committed.

Honestly, even that part of her mind didn't really care about the world at this point, it was just putting the information out there.

“Yoh-kun!”

Anna distantly recognized the figure approaching. Faust. Too late. She wondered, distantly, if she should be angry with him for not noticing a three story tall demon and arriving faster.

Anna watched Faust analyze Yoh in a quick, and professional manner, if a little tainted by incredible worry.

“Eliza! The bandages, we have to stop the bleeding!”

What do you mean, Yoh's already dead.

“Danna!” (“Master”, sort of. Ryu uses it for Yoh... I think?)

Ryu's always showing up randomly on that bike. I suppose… Yoh wouldn't want his friends obliterated along with the planet…

“Ryu, give him your furyoku! 1, 2, 3, now!”

Transferring your furyoku to a dead body won't do anything.

“Anna?” A whisper in the wind, really, but more than enough to turn Anna's world on it's head again.

“Y-Yoh?” She didn't trust her voice farther than that. Uncharacteristically, tears of happiness silently welled in her eyes.

He had been somewhere between life and death, but Faust and Ryu had given him enough strength to chose where to go. Life was pretty interesting, and all his friends were here, so the choice was obvious. Through a brain fogged with pain, he idly considered that, since he wasn't really alive he could count this as his first death. I'm catching up to Hao. He thought wryly. One more, and we'll be even. Or is it two?

“I'll finish the laps tomorrow, Anna. I'll do double, any punishment, but don't take the Bob.” he whispered weakly again, attempting to ignore the pain of Faust's emergency stitch work. The last part wasn't really to let Anna know he was alright, but if he was going to live, he needed to secure the safety of his Bob CD's first.

It would sound like an odd thing for someone to say, but Anna understood. He would still be here tomorrow, and everything was going to return to normal. Anna looked at him on the ground and in severe pain, pain brought on by her own cursed existence, just like the last time. And she wondered how he could live with her in the same way as before. More importantly… “don't do that again, Yoh.” I… never want to experience that again.

“Gomen”(sory)

“Will Dana be alright, Faust?.!”

“If it's Yoh-kun… probably. Come, help me carry him to a bed.”

Anna remained sitting outside for a long time, simply feeling relieved. Don't ever do that again, Yoh.

Owari (end)

(Of the side-story)

Explanation Corner (for the less difficult or essential explinations)

Many terms were used to refer to the tunnel Anna opened between Hell and Earth, just so you know

CELESTIAL SLASH? How can Yoh use it without Amidamaru? It was originally devised and created by Amidamaru himself during life, as a way to attack opponents outside his range with a katana. “Halo Blade” was similarly a technique devised and used by Amidamaru. Yoh's body “remembers” how to perform the techniques, which is why they are possible with his Oversouls. Which is to say, Yoh knows how to do them on his own. Unfortunately, his poor, trusty stick broke in two from the force.

The oversoul shatter? I made that one up. The name could be better, but nothing comes to mind. I could use a Japanese name, which always seems cooler and more appropriate, but I'm trying to use only English names anyway. If you have a better name for it, suggest. An Oversoul can be broken, no big deal, but what happens when a shaman's control of a double medium. (Which I'm going to theorize bounces furyoku from one medium to the other to become “exponentially more powerful”) causes the energy flow to be disrupted? Of course, it will explode! Yay! Yoh went through the “Tunnel of Tartarus” and also displayed great feats in furyoku control (ex. Spirit of Sword, Revised Spirit of Sword(the smaller one) and spontaneously deciding he'll give his spirit the ability to use two swords.) So Yoh can observe and control the flow like few other shamans could. He controlled such a rapid and volatile reaction to explode in just one direction.

Reviewer Response Courner

Thank you to the many “NINJA SPAM!”-ers that have reviewed. Especially the one that gave me “AWSOME NINJA SPAM!” I normally wouldn't say anything, but I'm truly touched that you find me deserving of such awesomeness (seriously).

I would also mention that by the time the last chapter was fully uploaded, someone had actually reviewed other than my friends! Therefore, I humbly retract my previous statements. It was mostly just a joke borne out of incredulity, anyway. Nothing in this fanfiction is worth hurting anyone's feelings.

I'm sorry.

Author's Corner

This concludes the side story arc. Hopefully, it will confuse a lot less people than the now-deleted side-story: “Shifty-Yoh”. On an odd side note: Once again I've reached a point where my side stories amount to more words than the main story! haha.

The update was a long time coming. Actually, the updates shall in all likelihood, continue to be so. Although, probably at least once a week, barring I say otherwise. I finally finished watching the episodes that I had missed in the past though, and had to re-work some of the story. And you shall excuse me for the wait because it was surprisingly difficult. Fun? yes. Difficult? hell ya. For example, the damn thing is 5 000+ words! 17 pages! That may or may not be a bad thing, though. Seeing as, with so many words in one chapter, you may skim through (and I often have) and probably confuse yourself (it's just that kind of story if you skim through, I think). Still…